Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By PAMELA JANSSON
Members of the Gogebic County Personnel and Negotiations Committee on May 8 tabled action in relation to county fairground winter storage.
The motion recognized the associated need to gather additional information from Marlene Saari-Mieloszyk, former fairground coordinator.
An as-yet-undated letter signed by Daniel Siirila, committee chairman, includes a list of questions in relation to how fairground storage has been managed. He already had sent a letter of similar questions to Thomas Hampston, a member of the county’s Fair Board.
The letter begins with the following claim: “A recent physical audit of the items in seasonal storage at the Gogebic County Fairgrounds indicates that 33 out of 41 items stored lacked a completed rental agreement, and that 32 of the 41 items stored lacked proof of insurance.”
Among Siirila’s questions are why some rental agreements were not fully complete, why some proofs of insurance are not evident, and why some payments appear to have been uncollected.
Siirila’s letter also asks, “Did the fair board, Mr. Hampston, or you decide which items brought into storage were subject to fee or given complimentary storage?”
The committee’s vote to table action followed its acknowledgment of an April 10 letter to county administrator Juliane Giackino from attorney Mark McDonald of Jacobs, McDonald and Silc, P.C. of Ironwood.
The letter said that the firm has been retained by Hampston.
McDonald requested all paperwork in association with the county’s recent review of storage concerns at the fairgrounds.
He added that — although no formal protocol is in place — the fair board has directed fairground storage, with the fairground coordinator overseeing the process and assuring that storage fees are paid, rental agreements are signed and related insurance proofs are received.
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but there are situations of contracts claimed and no cash to match,” said James Lorenson, a committee member who chairs the county board and also is a fair board member.
Committee member Thomas Laabs added that he does not believe storage funds were kept wrongfully, but said an explanation should be determined for any loss of storage income.
“If there’s money missing and we didn’t do anything about it, shame on us,” said Siirala, who added that county officials answer to the public.
Siirila added that storage payments should be given directly to the county treasurer. He said that the person who facilitates incoming and outgoing fairground storage should not handle the payments. That responsibility, until this year, has been handled by Hampston and Saari-Mieloszyk.
Sirila said that the Gogebic County Fair Board has been “cheated” out of funds it could have been using for fairground expenses.
“It’s shame on the board,” said committee member George Peterson III. “We’ve got to move forward.”
Regarding the overall management of fairground storage, Lorenson said, “If we run this right, we have the potential to gain a substantial amount of money.”
In related news, county officials have discussed in recent meetings the possibility of hiring a fairground administrator with broader responsibilities than what the fairground coordinator job lists.
The current job description for the coordinator requires the education level of a high school graduate/GED and lists among duties everything from maintaining files and answering the phone to creating and maintaining annual budgets to coordinating fairground events and preparing state reports. When Saari was employed in the role, she also wrote, and helped to write, grant applications.
No action has yet been taken on whether to expand the fair coordinator role, but during the public comment session, fair board member Linda Nelson said that the job is “really, really difficult.”
In other news, committee members also tabled action on Section 45.421 of Chapter 45 of Michigan’s Compiled Laws, relating to “salaries of county officers; determination; change in compensation.”
